Some are Disappointed to See Governor Sign Legislation Interfering with Personal Health Decisions

May 20, 2015 at 04:52 pm by bryan


Below: Statement by Allison Glass, State Director of Healthy and Free TN on the governor signing HB 977, which imposes special requirements for informed consent by abortion providers and mandates a 48 hour waiting period before seeking an abortion.

"We are incredibly disappointed to learn that this week Governor Bill Haslam signed House Bill 977 into law. This legislation is part of a coordinated effort across the country to push through bills that create barriers to abortion care. The fact is that some politicians do not want abortion to be legal, so they advance limitations on access in order to make it harder for people to secure services or to pay for care.

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House Bill 977 is troubling on multiple levels. Not only is it designed to push care out of reach, but it also flies in the face of basic principles of informed consent and blatantly interferes with the relationship between health care professionals and patients and the provision of reproductive health care in our state. This is a dangerous and concerning move by our state's leaders.

Proponents of this legislation made many false claims about the safety of abortion in order to purport that their intent was to protect women's health, but that fact is that Tennessee providers have a strong safety record and study after study from state and federal health agencies and independent research entities have shown that abortion is safe. Abortion has over a 99 percent safety record - with far fewer complications than other outpatient procedures that do not receive the same level of scrutiny and are not the subject of special requirements.

This bill had two primary areas of focus - interference with the information shared with people seeking abortion and forcing people to delay accessing services.

Abortion is already a well regulated procedure with well established, evidence-based guidelines for counseling and for obtaining consent. This bill is meant to dictate what kinds of information health providers share. In other states where this type of bill has passed it has resulted in scripts that health professionals are forced to read that include inaccurate information. This does not improve health, safety or quality of care - quite the opposite.

It is also worth noting that not only does the bill not require that the information shared be medically accurate and in line with the professionals standards of care, but amendments to try to ensure that information is based on science and not agendas were voted down in committee and floor votes. Think about what this says - that legislators who claim to want to protect the safety of patients were not willing to ensure that counseling provided to someone looking to make the best decision for their medical and personal circumstances would be medically accurate. This is a clear indication of the fact that this bill has nothing to do with women's health.

House Bill 977 also imposes a 48 hour waiting period. The implication is that people are not taking the decision seriously and should be forced by politicians to wait a certain amount of time. This is insulting. People already take the time they need to consider their options and consult with health professionals or trusted and supportive people in their life before making a decision. It is appropriate to have Nashville politicians dictate what the process of consent looks like or how much time a person should take to make a health care decision.

The impact of the forced delay is also a problem. Many people in Tennessee, particularly those from rural communities are driving hours to the nearest clinic. They may have to take time off from work in a state that recently refused to ensure access to paid leave. They often have to find child care and struggled to come up with the money to pay for services since far too many insurance plans withhold coverage for abortion care. By making someone wait two days - or more if they have to wait for a second appointment - we are adding additional cost and making it much harder on people who need to obtain an abortion. This feels like an effort to punish people simply for making a decision that some politicians don't like. It does not improve the experience or the quality of care. It just puts an extra strain on Tennesseans and their families when they have to navigate this complex and questionable set of requirements.

The governor already signed another bill earlier this month that imposes medically unnecessary requirements on clinics. We are concerned this could result in fewer provides now and in the future. When you consider these patchwork of restrictions together, a real burden is being placed on those who decide to seek an abortion.

With so much attention being placed by the governor and many lawmakers on Insure TN and efforts to make health care available and affordable to more people in our state it is both a contradiction and an insult to take one area of health care and make it that much harder to get because of a political agenda or personal beliefs.

We should be eliminating barriers to the information and services that people need to manage their health and take care of themselves and their families. We urge our state leaders to advance bills that support women and families, instead of meddling with personal health decisions."

Source:

Allison Glass, State Director
Healthy and Free TN

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